Kidnapped U.n. Aides Contact Families

November 10, 2004|By Carlotta Gall The New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government announced Tuesday that contact had been made with the three U.N. election officials kidnapped nearly two weeks ago and expressed hope that they would be released soon.

"A lot of progress has been made, and the hope is exciting that, God willing, they will be released and safely join their families," the presidential spokesman, Jawed Ludin, said at a weekly news briefing.

Two of the hostages, Annetta Flanigan and Shqipe Habibi, had made telephone calls to their homes, Ludin said. Reuters reported that the third hostage, Angelito Nayan, a diplomat for the Philippines who had been assigned to the United Nations, called his Foreign Ministry with a message for his sister saying he was all right.

Despite continued threats by the kidnappers, the latest news suggested that negotiations over the hostages had been working and that a deal for their freedom might be on the horizon.

Afghan officials said the kidnapping group, which calls itself Jaish-e-Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, appeared to be motivated by money more than anything else.

"This is a deal between robbers and the government," a senior security official said. "Al-Qaida is not involved yet." But he added that there was a risk that the group would still try to pass the hostages on to a group with ties to al-Qaida.

The kidnappers also expressed hope for a deal. "We're very hopeful they will accept our conditions," Akbar Agha, the group's leader, told The Associated Press by telephone.

Jaish-e-Muslimeen has demanded the release of 26 prisoners. Ludin did not say if any prisoners would be freed in return for the hostages' freedom, but he said the government was prepared to do anything to ensure the safety of the U.N. staff members.

Government officials said they were hoping to have the hostages released before the weekend. The hostages are thought to be somewhere not far south of Kabul, a government official said